Week 11 (Part 2): Prague

Kristina's passion for Prague was infectious. Kristina ran the hotel we stayed in. She welcomed us with an enormous selection of tea and sat down with us to make sure we knew that Prague was the greatest city in Europe and showed us the best way to spend our three days there so that we'd agree by the end of our visit. Turns out she was a pretty smart lady.

In the Old Town we saw beautiful buildings with so much decoration it is clear that the builders an architects were artists. The streets are old and decorated, souvenir shops are some of the prettiest we've seen and the smell of freshly cooked tredlnik is everywhere. The main square showcases the most wonderful clock that was confusingly crowded with people, until right on the hour magic happened: puppets came out of the clock tower, automated figures danced causing bells to ring and a trumpeter leaned out of the top of the tower to play for us all. The square had buskers singing and playing, a man blowing enormous bubbles for kids to dance under and a puppet show had elderly couples lining up for photographs. Along the old bridge with statues at regular intervals were many stall holders selling jewelry and art. We picked up some very funky enamel earrings of fish and the Prague skyline.

On day two we explored Lesser Town. We walked up and down hills in a beautiful park, following the old castle wall to the top. At the top we climbed the 299 stairs to the top of the Eiffel Tower replica and looked out at fantastic views of the city. We again walked on the uneven roads and marveled at the beauty in every building. The Castle sits at the top of another hill and looks over the city. We saw the (outside) monastery where they charge exorbitant amounts to see the oldest library in Europe. Inside the castle walls is St Vitus Cathedral which is surrounded very closely by other buildings which makes it feel so special. We saw puppets and slingshots in toy shops and watched the castle guards being terribly serious. On our way home we enjoyed more of the river scenery.

To complete our love story we visited the magic center of the city. On top of yet another hill with beautiful views we walked along the old city walls, saw a gorgeous wooden playground and a surprisingly pretty cemetery beside the church that sits in the center. As Kristina promised, we did feel some magic here.

Oh, and on our way home we found KAKADU: Sydney Store which provided much giggles!

Week 11 (Part 1): Berlin

Berlin! We rented an apartment for 4 nights in Berlin and on the 22nd floor it had marvelous views of the city below us. Our apartment was right around the corner from Checkpoint Charlie, and from there we followed the remains of the Berlin Wall. At the Topography of Terrors we saw the remains of the Gestapo headquarters and a fascinating display that walked you through each step of Hitler's Nazi Germany. We saw the holocaust memorial of stone pillars of different shapes and sizes that absorbed you within their maze. A homosexual memorial stood defiantly not straight on the corner of the city park, with pictures of same sex couples kissing. 

Checkpoint Charlie

Topography of Terrors

Holocaust memorial

We saw some more pleasant things too: buildings that somehow survived the wars, monuments covered in gold, plenty of cranes and the bears that are spread throughout the city. The pedestrian lights in many parts of Berlin are the great pictures shown below, and there is a store devoted to their story: The Ampelmannchen.

The Gendarmenmarkt (square) was filled with tourists on walking tours and we took our photos nice and close to hear some of the history while we watched. The square holds an impressive concert hall, which is flanked by two churches: first they built a French one, but Germany couldn't have a French church without a German church so now there are two very similar and equally impressive buildings.

French?

German?

A memorial to the book burning that happened on the site is a window into the ground showing a room of empty bookshelves. We followed the Unter den Linden (once Berlin's most important thoroughfare) and found a statue of Helmholtz (#physicsrepresents) outside part of the university, and right outside was a book stall than ran the length of the gates, and a young art student selling very impressive paintings that her and some friends had done.

Across the River Spree (bring it on, quiz night) we saw Berlin's most famous cathedral, and the museum buildings surrounding it. We found some more bears here too.

Berliner Dom

In the Jewish quarter we got lost between the synagogue and the Berlin wall memorial, but it lead us past a church where Martin Luther King had given a sermon once before. We found buildings covered in bullet holes. At the Berlin Wall Memorial we saw 'no mans land' between West and East Germany, and listened to accounts of people that had worked the patrol.

Berlin was filled with history and we learnt a lot about Nazi Germany. Many places had a sad vibe about them, but in the same way it felt like modern Germany was holding its head above the bad times, determined to invite us in and focus on the successes of the country and developing the modern world. We'll leave you with some of the views from our apartment....

Following Berlin comes Prague, then Budapest!